Run by billionaire investor George Soros, who once dubbed gold "the ultimate asset bubble," the firm also boosted its holdings in the precious metal, raising his stake in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), a gold-backed exchanged-traded fund, to 1.3 million shares from 884,400 shares, according to a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The holding was valued at $227.1 million.

AIG, an insurance giant that in 2008 nearly toppled the financial system, was Mr. Soros's third-largest position, after the fund purchased 15.2 million shares, worth $499.1 million. The fund also had put options on an additional 250,000-share AIG position.

Mr. Soros, who already owned shares of Facebook Inc.
FB, -1.26%
delved further into the social networking space, adding 1.2 million shares of LinkedIn, which were valued at $141.5 million. His Facebook stake was trimmed by 41,000 shares over the past three months.

During the third quarter, Mr. Soros waded back into the banking industry, buying 979,000 shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and 1.5 million shares of Citigroup Inc. The purchases followed Mr. Soros's elimination of those same positions in the prior period.

While most big-bank stocks have climbed year-to-date, the firms are grappling with scant revenue growth and a tough business environment fueled by concerns over the slowing U.S. economy, the U.S. government's looming "fiscal cliff" and increased regulatory scrutiny.

Overall in the third quarter, the value of Mr. Soros's holdings rose by 35% to $9.3 billion from $6.9 billion in the second quarter. Mr. Soros reported a 6.5% increase in the number of total holdings, disclosing 179 positions, the filing said.

Among other changes, Mr. Soros boosted his stake in conglomerates Johnson & Johnson
JNJ, +0.37%
and General Electric Co.
GE, -0.08%
by 2.4 million shares and 1.9 million shares, respectively. The two holdings are valued at $177 million and $237.3 million.

Investors who manage more than $100 million are required to disclose most securities holdings within 1 1/2 months of the end of a quarter. The filings give the public a relatively fresh look at the portfolios of well-known investors. The third-quarter deadline was Wednesday.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.